


A New Beginning

by sweetcarolanne



Series: Angel!Verse [9]
Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Breasts, Chickens, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Happy Ending, Homecoming, Love, Marriage, Pillow Fights, Polyamory, Romance, Threesome - F/F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 05:32:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5445086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetcarolanne/pseuds/sweetcarolanne
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if the events of "Orphans" had never happened - Salty had never died and Pepper never went to live with her sister or to the asylum? In this story, Pepper and Salty instead leave the freak show to live with their "angel", happily ever after! An AU of my Angel!Verse AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A New Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to my sweet fellow Pepper-fan friend, Mii-Mii Ramone!
> 
> DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters, w'ere just playing! I am making no money from this so suing is pointless.
> 
> Many thanks to my beta who wishes to remain anonymous.

Usually Pepper loved our limo rides, but on the day when she and Salty left the freak show with me for good, all she could do was bow her head and sob pitifully. Her lips trembled, and her shoulders hunched as if she was trying to shrink into herself, away from a world that suddenly seemed too large and too terrifying for words.

Salty sat on one side of her, and I on the other. We held her hands and did our best to comfort her. There was sadness in Salty’s eyes, too, but he was more concerned about Pepper’s wellbeing, as was I. 

“It’s all right, we’re here and we’re never going away,” I whispered. “I know you’re missing your Miss Elsa and all your friends at the show, but one day I’m sure you’ll all meet again. You’re going to have a new home, with Salty and me, for always. It’s a nice place where we can all live together and take care of each other. We love you, Pepper. Please don’t cry. We’ll all be happy together, I just know it!”

It took a while, but Pepper’s tears eventually stopped and a small smile lit up her sweet little face. “Home? For Pepper and Salty?” she asked hopefully.

“Oh, yes. Our forever home, my darling!”

She seemed to cheer up slightly after that, and was almost her old self for the rest of the journey, humming along when I sang softly to her and looking eagerly when Salty and I pointed out interesting sights through the windows. 

At the hotel all three of us slept in one big bed together, snuggled close under the blankets, and I cradled them tenderly against my heart.

“You’ll love the house where we’re going to live,” I told them soothingly. “It’s a beautiful old farmhouse, so big, with so many rooms for you to explore and play in – and if you want, you can have all my dolls and toys and games that I’ve saved from when I was a little girl. Of course I’ll buy you plenty of new ones, too. And the bed – our bed – is even bigger and softer than this one.”

“Nice,” Salty murmured, and Pepper asked hopefully, “Fluffy pillows?”

“Yes indeed – the fluffiest! Much better than these here! They’re all full of feathers, more comfortable than anything else you can think of. And they’re great for pillow fights!” I gave Pepper a gentle squeeze and she grinned, nuzzling my neck.

“A farm? Are there chickens?” Pepper sat up a bit and gave me a soft little kiss, and reached over to intertwine her fingers with Salty’s.

“Lots! You can feed them and pet them, and they’re the best layers in the world, so we can have fresh eggs every day.” I smiled at my sweet lovers who were both looking at me with shining eyes.

“And that’s not all. I’ll cook you every delicious thing you want – home-made bread and fruit pies, mashed potatoes with lots of gravy and butter, all sorts of vegetables that we’ll grow in our very own garden… and of course I’ll make your favorite dish of all. You two know what I mean, don’t you?” 

Pepper’s eyes were really sparkling now, and Salty’s were too. “Meatloaf!” they both exclaimed at once, and I covered their darling faces with as many smacking kisses as I could until we were all wriggling, laughing and breathless.

We did not make love that night, but the tenderness between us all as we slept in each other’s arms was far sweeter than any erotic coupling could ever have been.

On my last visit to the freak show, before our journey had begun, I had felt something different was going on from the very moment I saw Elsa Mars’s face. Over the customary glasses of schnapps we indulged in before I went to see Pepper and Salty, she had looked at me strangely and observed, “I know this already, but I need to hear you say it to me, right now. You truly love those two, don’t you? Completely and utterly, with your entire heart and soul?”

Overly dramatic words, perhaps, but Elsa obviously thrived on the theatrical.

“Of course I do!” I answered, my eyes wide and my heart racing. Elsa nodded slowly, regarding me with a gaze that seemed filled with an odd affection, as if she were seeing me in a whole new light.

“How would you describe your love for Pepper and Salty, in simple words?” she gently persisted, pouring us both another glass. 

I shifted in my seat, and thought deeply for a few minutes. Breathing slowly, a slight flush came to my cheeks as I told her, “If I could marry them both today, I would, in a heartbeat.”

It was a little reckless of me to admit it – I had no way of knowing how my words would be judged – but it was the plain and honest truth.

Elsa nodded again, seriously considering my words. “I always knew there was something deeper there, in your love for them. I have had offers from many people wanting to adopt them, some promising me very large sums of money indeed – but I have always refused. They are popular attractions here, and they are like my children.” 

She drained her glass in a sudden motion, and stared into it for a moment as if it were a crystal ball. “But children grow, and they leave their families to find love. It’s the way things are and always have been. And now that poor little Ma Petite is gone, perhaps this show is no longer the place for them.”

Elsa put down her glass, stood up and walked to the entrance of the tent, and called softly to Pepper and Salty who were waiting outside. With cries of joy, they dashed into my arms, almost knocking me over with their eagerness to embrace me.

The marriage ceremony Elsa performed for the three of us was, of course, not as elaborate as the big party she had thrown for Pepper and Salty’s first wedding. It was simply the three of us holding hands while I made a simple vow to always love and protect and cherish my dear angels. But I knew that I would treasure the memory of the event as one of the happiest days of my life.

“Do you mean…” I choked as soon as she had pronounced us wed, but was too full of emotion to speak further.

“Yes,” Elsa said quietly. “You are all going to go away together and be happy. That is what I want for you.” And she smiled beatifically upon us; Pepper and Salty were smiling too, overjoyed that I would always be with them.

Until the moment when the limousine was packed with their belongings, and Pepper, with her long and sad history of being abandoned, realized that she would be leaving Elsa Mars and the freak show behind.

It took all of my energy, and Salty’s as well, to make her see that neither of us would ever abandon her. 

By the time we three boarded the plane for the last part of our voyage home, Pepper had recovered enough to be excited about the flight. She smiled and bounced a little in her seat and ate candy, pointing out pretty shapes in the clouds to Salty and me. I exclaimed happily enough over them to satisfy her, but it was really Pepper’s delight that captivated me and filled me with a joy that was beyond words.

We were all together, for the rest of our lives, and we were going home.

Upon our arrival at the farmhouse gate, Pepper and Salty paused for a moment, eyes wide with wonder at the beauty of the old place in its surroundings of lush greenery, before dashing up the pathway to the door.

“Race you!” Pepper called to Salty as she ran, and he laughed, hurrying to catch up with her. I followed slowly behind them, watching them fondly.

Once inside, the happy pair kept up their chase, running from room to room and exploring. Delighted exclamations echoed everywhere, and when Pepper and Salty reached the sumptuous bedroom that was to be ours, with its massive bed piled high with quilts and pillows, both of them gazed raptly with a shared intake of breath before diving headfirst amongst all the softness and bouncing up and down upon the springy mattress. 

I slyly slipped through the doorway as they tumbled and giggled, stealthily picking up a pillow that had fallen on the floor, but my dear ones were on to me in seconds flat. 

“Hey, no fair!” Pepper shouted as she and Salty seized plush, feather-padded weapons of their own, flinging themselves at me with playful battle-cries.

We swung and jumped and ran around, thumping each other with the pillows until we collapsed upon the bed, out of breath and ecstatic from our fun.

The rest of the day passed by in a blur of blissful sweetness. Naturally, Pepper wanted to go and see the chickens, so all three of us went down to the henhouse and I showed Pepper and Salty how to collect the eggs. Pepper was so gentle with the hens, reaching carefully under them and cradling each egg with its fragile, speckled brown shell in steady little hands as she removed it. The hens even seemed to sense her kind nature, for none of them pecked at her, not even once.

That night we celebrated our homecoming with luscious meatloaf (which Pepper and Salty had helped me make, with much enthusiasm, mirth and mess in the kitchen) fancy imported chocolates and champagne. Even before the meal was ended, my lovers were becoming affectionate and bold. 

With a wide grin on his face and a lustful gleam in his eyes, Salty slipped out of his chair and around to my side of the table, breathing in the scent of my hair and bending to nuzzle into my cleavage. I gasped in pleasure, laughing a little.

“Dinner’s not over yet, and you want dessert already, my sweet? I do love a man who knows what he wants!” I smiled at him, and at Pepper too, who was also eyeing my breasts with lewd anticipation. “And a woman who knows what she wants, too. Let’s go to bed!”

Soon all three of us were nestled beneath the warm sheets, bare as the day we were born, and both of my darlings were suckling. I sighed contentedly, glad to just be holding them close for now. There was no need to rush anything, for we had not only all night for making love, but an entire lifetime.


End file.
